Users’ Perceptions of Public Space Quality in Urban Waterfront Regeneration: A Case Study of the South Bank of the Qiantang River in Hangzhou, China

Mega-event-led urban waterfront regeneration has played a key role in shaping public open spaces, particularly in newly developed areas within the Chinese context. However, public perceptions and their influence on the use of newly built open spaces created through mega-event-led regeneration have not been examined in existing research. To address this gap, this study establishes an integrated assessment framework to evaluate the quality of urban waterfront open spaces. A mixed methods approach was adopted, including direct observations and 770 online questionnaires collected between July and October 2024 at the South Bank of the Qiantang River (SBQR) in Hangzhou, China. Spatial analysis and Importance–Performance Analysis (IPA) were employed to determine priority improvement areas that should inform future waterfront regeneration strategies. The results indicate that inclusiveness emerged as the most important factor for enhancing waterfront open space quality, while spatial aesthetics ranked the lowest. Among the sub-sub factors, elements related to improving water accessibility, enhancing natural surveillance, providing artificial shelters and diverse seating options, introducing distinctive water features, and shaping collective memory through digital technologies are the key priorities for improvement in the future urban waterfront regeneration policies. Finally, the study highlights that the intangible legacies of the Asian Games and the adaptive reuse of informal built heritage have the potential to reshape a distinctive new city image and collective memory, even in the absence of tangible and formally recognised heritage buildings.